If Jane Lynch weren’t such a successful actress, maybe she would have become a therapist. She plays one in the comedy Afternoon Delight, opening Aug. 30. Her pal director Jill Soloway wrote the role for her.

Lynch, 53, turned to therapy herself in 1996 to overcome alcohol dependency and other personal matters. “My therapist helped me a whole lot,” she says. “I probably saw her three years in a row. Anything she told me to do I was willing to do, because I wasn’t feeling really good.”

How did she get better? “I have a great will and a great passion for what I do,” she says. “My desire to move forward is stronger than my fear. You get a couple of those experiences where you barrel through with your head down, not thinking about the risks or the fears, and you emerge with more confidence.”

Lynch just completed her Broadway run as Miss Hannigan in Annie. She recently hosted NBC’s Hollywood Game Night and will be back in her track suit for the season premiere of Glee next month.